 the president of the United States thank you thank you very much to David Rockefeller and Ambassador George Landau and Robert Helander and all of you welcome to the White House complex I think they call this the White House complex because nothing in Washington could ever be simple except maybe Congress is compulsion to spend and it's a it is a pleasure to have you the members of the Council of Americas here today in 1933 Franklin Roosevelt said common ideals and a community of interests together with a spirit of cooperation have led to a realization that the well-being of one nation depends in large measure upon the well-being of its neighbors it is upon these foundations he said that Pan-Americanism has been built well FDR could easily have been speaking for you for nearly 30 years the Council of the Americas has promoted understanding and cooperation between the United States and the nations and peoples of Latin America the Council has brought leaders to our private sector together with business and government leaders throughout Latin America it's helped strengthen the old and enduring friendship between the United States and Latin America it's been helping to make our nation's great engine of hope and opportunity the private enterprise system the engine of hope and opportunity for Latin America as well and let me just say that the entire hemisphere owes its gratitude to the Council and in particular to your chairman one of the great citizens of the Americas David Rockefeller you know when some people talk they make it sound as though development is some kind of a magic process not the hard work of real men and women reminds me of the story a lot of things remind me of stories these days and if I've told you all this one before just forget it and pretend I didn't it comes in handy every once in a while this particular one is about an old fellow that lived down by the creek and he had some creek bottom land and he went to work on it one day it was all brush covered in rocks everything there and he worked and he got rid of the brush and then he hauled the rocks away and he cultivated and he fertilized and planted and finally he had a real garden spot there and one Sunday morning after church he asked the minister why didn't he after lunch come on out and see what he'd accomplished well the minister came out that afternoon and he took him down there and the minister said I've never seen calls so corn so tall he said my goodness the Lord has blessed this land and then he went on he said melons he said look praise the Lord look at the size of those melons and he went on about everything else and all of that and praising the Lord the old boy was getting pretty restive and finally he said Reverend I wish you could have seen this place when the Lord was doing it by himself well today two great winds are sweeping across Latin America the wind of free enterprise and the wind of democracy they're warm and nurturing winds that carry within the general reins of hope for Latin America's future country after country has seen the disaster of state controlled and dominated economies in both small and large steps nations are beginning on the difficult path away from stateism and toward freer economies as Brazilian President Jose Sarnes said recently private initiative is the engine of economic development in Brazil we have learned that every time the state's penetration of the economy increases our liberty decreases I want to diminish the state's presence well from one end of Latin America to the other the message of reform is on everyone's lips and despite problems progress is being made in the South Argentina for example has reformed its tax code liberalized trade and moved to privatize and reform publicly owned companies between 1984 and 86 it reduced its budget deficit from over 12% of gross domestic product to 4% it has cut inflation dramatically and once again the economy is growing not sluggishly but at a robust five and a half percent last year meanwhile on the American border Mexico has also reduced the number of peristatal companies and is moving toward tax reform and more market-oriented pricing and has begun to make trade more open debt remains a burden for too many countries but the final and best way to lighten that burden is not by jeopardizing access to the international financial markets but with freer trade sounder monetary and fiscal policies and greater economic growth to take one example Colombia is following this path and last year was able to make its first voluntary euro financing since 1982 and other nations have eased their debt loads with debt equity swaps all the countries of Latin America need to rely less on borrowing by one course or another and more on investment from abroad the United States is determined to help the countries of Latin America grow as a young tree grows toward the Sun pushing the boulder of debt out of the way as they do we've encouraged continuing private lending we're encouraging Latin American leaders to trust more in the energies of their people and less on government just as important we've provided the market that Latin America needs if it is to pay off its foreign debt we buy nearly half of Latin America's exports while Europe and Japan together by less than 10% if our trade balance with Latin America had been the same over the last five years as it was in 1981 our overall trade deficit would have averaged 25 billion dollars less a year put another way one quarter of the trade deficit during our administration came about as a result of the debt crisis we're convinced that if Latin America commits itself to sound policies for economic growth it's going to bounce back then our sales to them will rebound as well which will be good for everyone so you see this is an investment in the future of our entire hemisphere and investment in our future as well as Latin America's that's the best investment the United States can make but the economic growth of the next century in Latin America is to be as powerful and relentless as the Amazon then democracy in that vast region must become as towering as the Andes just as the Amazon rises in those magnificent mountains so too does the river of opportunity rise in the highlands of freedom today it's possible for the first time in our history to see approaching the moment when the entire Western hemisphere from the Canadian Arctic to Tierra del Fuego is composed of democracies as the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Yosa said recently for the first time democracy or incipient democratic forms of government are being established in the countries of our hemisphere with clear popular support and with equally clear rejection of Marxist revolution or military dictatorship today anti-democratic alternatives are running against the will of the people supported only by economic and intellectual elites you know there's a thundering sound that echoes from the peaks and across the plains of Latin America it's the sound of people marching not in uniforms not behind red banners but rather marching one by one in simple everyday working clothes marching to the polls ten years ago 33% of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean lived in democracies or in countries that were turning to democracy today over 90% do several of these new democracies have faced crises in the past few years but unlike earlier times every crisis has ended with democracies forces still in control only a few countries resist the democratic tide and among these the most dangerous are Cuba and Nicaragua as president Kennedy told us more than a quarter century ago in his words the forces of communism are not to be underestimated in Cuba or anywhere else in the world the advantages of a police state its use of mass terror and arrest to prevent the spread of free descent cannot be overlooked by those who expect the fall of every fanatical tyrant if the self-discipline of the free cannot match the iron discipline of the male fist then the peril to freedom will continue to rise we must remember that in Nicaragua the freedom fighters fight is our fight our goal is democracy in Nicaragua and throughout the hemisphere the 19th century Europe emerged as the first great industrial continent of the earth in the 20th century North America joined it in the 21st century Latin America will also enter that company for the sake of our own peace and freedom it must be a democratic region when it does or as the Argentine poet Jose Hernandez wrote more than a century ago the Americas have a great destiny to achieve in the fate of mankind an American alliance will undoubtedly be achieved and the American alliance will bring world peace the Americas must be the cradle of the great principles which will bring a complete change in the political and social organization of other nations so to all of us and all of you who are helping build the future of this hemisphere of hope I thank you for what you're doing I can't resist this comparison we all have the common heritage from the Arctic down there to that southern tip and the pioneer heritage and to those of us that turn to freedom as the basis for all that we did we can see what has resulted just those others that still have yielded to statism I have become a collector of stories that I can prove are told by the Soviet people among themselves showing a certain growing cynicism about their heritage and this last one had to do with a young man buying an automobile it's not an exaggeration it takes 10 years to get delivery in the Soviet Union but you have to pay for the automobile right at the first not when you get it so this young fellow was going from agency to agency and getting permits here and it's there and stamps he was collecting and finally at the final place in the final stamp was put on and then he laid out the cash and the man said come back in 10 years and get your car the young fellow started to turn away and he turned back and he says morning or afternoon and the fellow behind the counter said what difference does it make well he said the plumbers coming in the morning thank you all and God bless you all thank you very much Mr. President for what was really a very inspiring and I think most significant speech it's a great privilege for all of us to be able to welcome you here again to the Washington Conference of the Council on the Americas and also to the America's Society which the Council is an affiliate we're particularly grateful to you also Mr. President for having participated in four of these conferences since you've been in office and more importantly you have demonstrated through your presidency that you were an ardent champion of freedom and democracy through the nations of this hemisphere as you yourself pointed out today over 90% of the people of our hemisphere live in countries where democracy reigns reigns at this present time but I would have to add to that that you have never swerved for a moment in your effort to make sure that the figure is 100% countries such as Argentina Brazil and Uruguay Haiti have to take satisfaction in the active moral support that you gave them in their successful struggles to regain the cherished blessings of freedom and pluralistic society. You've also been a champion of the virtues of the market economy and a strong private sector as a means of promoting growth in this hemisphere and this too has given courage to nations struggling to rid themselves of the crushing debt burden which have come to see that the inward looking government dominated economies which they had encouraged in the past were not producing the desired result. Many of them are now promoting greater export orientation with far more private sector participation. Mr. President for these and many other reasons the Pan-American society which is also an affiliate of the America's society has designated you to be the recipient of our highest recognition the gold insignia. With your permission I'd like to say just a few words about its origin and history. Founded in 1912 the Pan- American society has dedicated to fostering better relations among the hemisphere nations. It's become a tradition to encourage this objective by awarding the society's gold insignia to outstanding leaders of the democratic nations of our hemisphere. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary this year we're delighted that the president of the United States is being so honored. The first gold insignia was given in 1932 when the Pan-American society celebrated its 20th anniversary. Numerous heads of state from the Americas have been recognized with it since that time. Needless to say we're deeply honored that you could spare the time to be with us today Mr. President and we're pleased that you will join the list of distinguished leaders of this hemisphere in accepting the gold insignia. Since you were sworn into office for example Mr. President 14 democratically elected Latin American heads of state have honored us by accepting this award including among others such distinguished people as President Duarte of El Salvador, President Sarnay of Brazil, President Alfonsina of Argentina, President Lucinchia of Venezuela, President Febrez Cordero of Ecuador and President de la Madrid of Mexico. Among the US presidents who have been honored over the years include presidents Hoover, Roosevelt Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. You're accepting the gold insignia today reestablishes an important link between the Pan-American society and the White House for which we of course are especially grateful. So at this time Mr. President may I ask you and our President Ambassador George Landau and the vice chairman of the Pan-American society Mr. Robert Hielander to come forward to join me in presenting this award to you. Ladies and gentlemen that concludes